Revitalize Your Church

Our church is launching a special series called "Ablaze for God" It's a time to focus on prayer, renewal and deepening our spiritual commitment to the Lord, based loosely on a powerful little book by Dr. Wesley Duewel entitled, "Ablaze for God." Themes include: Your Life Aflame, Your Power, Your Love, Your Prayer, Your Accountability, Your Anointing, Your Integrity and Your Infilling. Starting September 14, this special series will continue through the first week of November This will, of course, be our emphasis on Sunday mornings. On Monday evenings, we will gather again for a deeper teaching on the same subject. (Sort of like a spiritual Monday Night Football!) Also on Mondays, at the conclusion of the teaching, we will break into small groups to discuss the theme of the day. This is a great place to ask questions, share your insights, or to merely listen in. There will be a daily devotional, launching September 15. We will have it in booklet form at the churc...

My friend, Mark Batterson has knocked the ball out of the park again! A Grand Slam Homerun!! His new book, Wild Goose Chase , is an inspiring and insightful call to live dangerously for God. Celtic Christians called The Holy Spirit "An Geadh-Glas ", which means "The Wild Goose." Batterson challenges us to get out of the cage and "Chase the Goose!" You can read a sample chapter by clicking here or purchase it here. Mark's first book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day , was one of the best books I've read in recent years. Now, I'm delighted to discover that his second work is just as wonderful!!

To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid "big" sins -- is this passionate, wholehearted love of God? -- Francois Fenelon (The Seeking Heart)

When the gospel first came to Africa, some of the early converts became so passionate about prayer that they built their own private prayer huts. Each hut was set aside for just one person, and a path used only by that person led up to its door. If someone neglected the loving discipline of prayer, guess what happened. Grass would begin to grow on his or her path. The straying brother or sister’s best friends were those with the courage to say, “I love you, and I see there’s grass growing on your path.” In other words, I love you enough to correct you. You’re not doing what God has called you to do. -- Craig Groeschl in Chazown

O God, not like a stagnant pool with tepid depths, let my life be, But like a stream, undaunted, cool, that plunges toward the sea. O God, not like a sodden log, now dead, though once a stately tree, but pushing high above the bog still upward yearning, let life be! -- J. Gordon Howard

A few years ago, while on my sabbatical, I visited St. Michael's Church in Madeley, England, where the great Methodist, John Fletcher, served for many years. Fletcher is one of my heroes. He spent his entire ministry in one small town church -- and touched the world from the "end of it." His life was marked by an unusual joy and devotion to Christ. When John Wesley offered to turn the leadership of the entire Methodist movement over to Fletcher, the little vicar humbly declined, saying, "The snail does best in its shell; were it to aim at galloping, like the reacehorse, it would be ridiculous indeed." I was also privileged to visit the Methodist Archives during my trip to Britain, and came upon several boxes of Fletcher's papers: sermons, notes, journals, and letters. For a entire day, I sat in the library "mining treasures" from the heart of this godly man. One letter, dated January 28, 1763, particularly gripped my heart. In a flowing 18th Centu...

Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts and our feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things may be the true cause of our want of success. –Hudson Taylor